The dictator is losing his place in the sun, at least on military bases.
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has promised to remove all statues of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌) told a press conference yesterday that the ministry had promised to store all of the statues in indoor facilities in response to a proposal from the party last weekend.
PHOTO: CNA
Hsueh was accompanied by DPP legislators Chai Trong-rong (
"This [proposal] conforms to the basic principle of democracy," Hsueh said. "Names of places such as the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport have also been changed [to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport]. This is a world trend, because we are in a democratic era now, not an authoritarian one."
Hsueh said removing Chiang's statutes was a way to help the military get rid of the symbolic influence of the dictator, who controlled the military with an iron grip.
Chai said in a press release that since an investigative report published by the 228 Incident Memorial Foundation last year concluded that Chiang should be held responsible for the incident, which took place in 1947, his statutes located in every part of the nation should be removed.
In the 228 Incident, conflict between anti-contraband officers and local people led to clashes.
Thereafter military forces were called in from China, escalating into an islandwide crackdown during which tens of thousands of people were arrested and killed.
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (
Gao said that the Provisions Governing the Organization of the CKS Memorial Hall Administration Office (
After relocation, the current site could be used to honor the nation's democratic development, he said.
Meanwhile, ministry spokesman Rear-Admiral Wu Chi-fang (
"Because the military has been proceeding with a downsizing of the army ... the ministry last year began implementing the proposal of removing statues of Chiang Kai-shek along with the reshuffling of military bases, and is arranging that the statues are moved to proper places, such as existing monuments relating to Chiang Kai-shek nationwide," Wu said.
He said the statues standing outside military bases were being eroded and stained by their exposure to the elements.
"The military honors the late president's contribution to the country and the military, and we honor history, but times have changed and it is now a democratic age," Wu said.
He said that the proposal would not change the training of soldiers.
"We educate the military to love our country, but we have never educated the military to love Chiang Kai-shek," he said.
Wu said that the removal of the statues was nearing completion.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday called a press conference at which they accused the government and DPP lawmakers of thinking only of pleasing pan-green supporters.
"Blaming Chiang for the 228 Incident is a distortion of history. His statues should be kept in public places," KMT Legislator Hsu Shao-ping (
Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said that changing the names of state-owned firms would be a waste of money.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs recently said that the state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) and China Shipbuilding Corp would soon be renamed to include "Taiwan" in their company titles.
"I think that CPC and China Shipbuilding would need at least NT$3 billion [US$91 million] to change their names, an amount that could be used to subsidize 35,000 low-income families," Lai said.
The KMT lawmakers threatened to cut the budget of state-owned enterprises in the next legislative session if the Ministry of Economic Affairs refused to suspend the name change.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary